LDV has begun reaping the rewards of introducing its T60 ute into Australia’s pick-up-obsessed vehicle market, with the Chinese manufacturer registering 500 monthly sales for the first time since it launched Down Under in 2014.

The bulk of last month’s 521 total sales – a sharp 242.7 per cent increase over March 2017’s 460 tally – was made up by the T60 4x4 and 4x2 pick-up, which contributed 225 units to LDV’s bottom line.

For the first three months of the year, LDV has moved a total of 538 T60s – a figure expected to increase in coming months given the price of entry to the T60 range was lowered in March with the addition of a 4x2 and 4x4 single-cab workhorse.

Meanwhile, the D90 SUV – which shares the same underpinnings as the T60 – pushed LDV’s total up 50 units last month, and has found 103 new homes so far in 2018.

Before the launch of the T60 and D90, LDV’s bread and butter was the G10 – available in both van and people-mover guise – that tallied 200 new registrations in last month.

The van version has climbed 64.5 per cent year-to-date in sales to 306 units, while the people-mover has risen 11.4 per cent to 196 units in the first quarter of the year.

The final model in LDV’s line-up, the V80, added 46 units to the brand’s March total, while the Bus version did not record any new registrations last month.

While the van has jumped 29.9 per cent in 2018 to 113 year-to-date sales, the people-mover V80 is the only model in LDV’s range that has shrunk its market share, down 90.9 per cent this year with just a single sale recorded.

Overall, LDV sales have risen by 173.3 per cent over the first three months of 2018 compared with the same period last year, with 1257 new registrations compared to 460.

LDV Australia general manager Dinesh Chinnappa said the introduction of the T60 has freed the brand up to play in different segments, therefore increasing its reach in the Australian market.

“The LDV T60 has transformed this brand and breaking the 500 sales a month barrier demonstrates this,” he said.

“As a van and people-mover brand, we were operating in only 2.5 per cent of the Australian market. The arrival of the T60 ute and D90 large SUV has increased the brand’s reach to 26 per cent of the market.

“Our challenge is to make certain that every new model is truly incremental. We have been heavily focused on that and so far, it’s working. Sales of the whole LDV range are lifting.”

GoAuto has previously reported that additional T60 variants will likely join the existing line-up in the future, including a petrol-powered version and even a top-spec Ford Ranger Wildtrak-rivalling halo model.

Mr Chinnappa said that one of the reasons for the increase in G10 sales was due to the improved brand recognition helped by having the T60 advertised heavily on television, which was helping customers become familiar with the marque.

Helping in its sales resurgence is the LDV’s expanded dealer network, which has seen a rise in dealer numbers from 33 during its launch in 2014 to 52 by the end of last year.

The number of dealers currently sits at 54, with LDV hoping to increase that number to 65 by the end of 2018.

With the introduction of the T60 and D90, LDV has made a push into regional centres such as Cairns, Townsville and Geelong, spaces where it never previously played.

Mr Chinnappa said the dealer expansion would continue in a mix of regional and metropolitan locations, citing the Brookvale and Manly areas in Sydney as locations that the brand would like to expand into, but has yet to find a dealer that is “ready, willing and able”.

A five-year/130,000km warranty and 24/7 roadside assist also gives buyers confidence not always seen with relatively new Chinese brands that arrive on the Australian market.

Furthermore, a five-star Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) rating for the T60 further increases peace-of-mind for customers.